2008

Boxing Issues

stargrace October 17, 2008 3 Comments

I turned off multi core support and attempted to box like I used to be able to do on balanced settings. This is apparently what happens when my video card over heats. 

Sort of interesting graphic, no?

Turns out no matter what settings I set my computer at, whether multi core is on or off, I can’t box like I used to. Not sure why, but it sucks. Looks like I’m buying a laptop in my near future. I miss boxing, and both my accounts are active. One account runs like magic and I can play on the highest settings and the game looks beautiful. I used to box (two accounts on one machine) on balanced settings with no issues, it was a lot of fun but stressful when I started to raid with both accounts. 

I’ve been looking for an excuse to buy a laptop anyhow, and this seems like a good one.

Home Sweet Home

stargrace October 17, 2008 7 Comments

I own a lot of houses in EQ2. Aside from crafting it’s one of my “I want to relax” hobbies that I dedicate a lot of time to when I don’t feel like adventuring. When guildhalls came out I knew I’d still be keeping my homes (and thus far I have) but I also knew I’d probably be downsizing some what. It’s not really because of the halls themselves either, but moving Silhouette from a 5-room Gorowyn home to a 3-room (and then yesterday to a one room) was something I’ve wanted to do for a bit and just had not been motivated.

The one room Gorowyn homes are absolutely huge and more then enough space. I did purchase the item expander, so I can have 200 items instead of 100 (and I’m at 150 currently, lots of room to grow) and I also bought the vault expander so I have 3 vaults for broker sales. Since each one of my characters has their own home, none of them fill up more then three sales crates with goodies, typically. 

I built the house loft style, since the Gorowyn homes have the highest ceilings I’ve ever seen. You could probably stand 6 sarnak on top of one another and still have room left over for a dwarf. I built a library and desk area on the main floor, along with the kitchen (pictured in the first screen shot) and then upstairs I have a little seating area with a bedroom. 

It’s not exactly fancy, but it suits my character just fine. 

The screen shot above is looking down from the loft area into the main room. Since I had downsized first from a 5 room to a 3 room, and then finally to the one room, I had a LOT of spare items left over. I stuck them all on the broker to try to make back some of the coin I spent decorating this past little while. A thank you to Kasul for fixing the stairs properly for me, those are simply not my strength. 

Aside from this one room in Gorowyn, I own two 5-rooms in South Qeynos that need an overhaul. Stargrace and Arysh have had their homes for a few years now with no updates aside from adding new little knickknacks to their collections. I also own a two room in Qeynos Harbor, and in East Freeport. Both of which need decorating. I haven’t really focused much on getting those done (obviously) but hey it’s all one big ongoing work in progress.

LoN, Housing, and a Cold

stargrace October 16, 2008 4 Comments

Feeling under the weather lately, with all the regular aches and pains that come along with it, I didn’t get a whole lot done yesterday. I did decide to move Silhouette out of her 5-room Gorowyn home and into a three room. There was just no reason for me to have such a huge house when I already own two 5-rooms in South Qeynos. I started thinking of ideas for her home but had a difficult time concentrating so I sort of piled everything at the door and I’ll come back to it another time.

I had heard that LoN (legends of Norrath card game) was giving out free things with their new Ethernaught scenarios and I decided to play a few rounds. First one I got replenishes 100% of your adventure vitality. Pretty cool little item except that most of my characters are level 80 and I don’t have room to make more. Apparently there is also a sales crate that reduces the broker fee, and a wand of forgiveness that erases experience debt. 

There’s quite a few debates over LoN going on right now. I’m quite impartial to the majority of them. I think some of the loot cards need a second look (ie: Letting players choose a random class hat of any class to wear that has no stats) but for the most part don’t really mind the items as they don’t have a huge affect on game play. I love the idea of rewarding loot cards to players for actually PLAYING the game, as opposed to being able to simply plunk down an amount of cash to buy booster packs and randomly winning one. There’s a player on my server who proclaims that they can sell any single loot card to anyone out there (for in game plat) as long as the price is right. That leads me to believe they have way too much cash to burn. Good for sony I suppose though, for being able to tap into such a profitable market. I think the in game announcements are a little too much at times, but for the most part those who don’t want anything to do with LoN don’t have to. Though everyone just got a free starter deck and 5 boosters, so they may actually want to at least check those out for any random loot cards. 

Crashed to desktop with an error when I tried to arrange my deck, apparently it’s quite common when you’re in very high graphic settings. I took it as a sign and decided to go to bed for the night. Of course it was quite early so I was up at 4am this morning. Ugh.

Lets Get D.I.R.T.Y. Tonight

stargrace October 15, 2008 5 Comments

I had been neglecting my duties, I knew it from the start. When the priests in the Temple of Life started going on about excavation sites I barely paid attention. Didn’t they know Nostalgia had just purchased our very own guildhall? Everything that wasn’t guildhall related I pretty much just tuned out. 

A week or so had gone by though and again I heard the hushed whispers. It was past time I checked things out for myself. I took the next carpet to Sinking Sands, brushing grains of, you guessed it – sand – out of annoying places that sand shouldn’t be. Why on earth had I decided to wear a dress to the desert of all places. I shook my head in annoyance. No one to blame but myself. 

There were D.I.R.T.Y. workers everywhere. Standing by the carpets leading to Sinking Sands, and welcoming me on the docks once I landed. They mentioned I’d want to head west up the hills to see the new discovery. I thanked them and headed off. 

Jimbo McDaniel greeted me, and mentioned he was having issues with the local monkey and wouldn’t I bet so kind as to shoo them away for him just for a bit? Of course I agreed. Some times it’s painful being this nice. 

Then the monkey started throwing… stuff… at me. I didn’t sign up to be pelted with monkey poop!

After I finished shooing away the monkeys (and no doubt I looked slightly ragged, running up to Jimbo with my hair strewn about my shoulders and brown splotches covering my dress) Jimbo sent me to the excavation site to help out. 

It wasn’t enough that I had been pelted by monkey poop, it was time to get REALLY dirty and help dig up relics. 

My pick axe was just one of a thousand others working away in the sand. The sun lowered in the desert sky and my skin was coated in a thin film of dust and grime. 

After a few hours of helping out the excavation site I headed back to Jimbo, I had been paid a few bits of D.I.R.T.Y. money for helping out and wanted to spend them. Of course before Jimbo McDaniel would open his shop to me he required me to investigate a monkey that had been going around infecting people. Once I had dispatched that monkey he sent me to take care of an even BIGGER monkey. I swear if I see another monkey today it will be one too many. 

At the end of the day it was all worth it though, I got my very own excavation helm to take home. It can apparently also spot hard-to-see shinies on the ground, I got to test it out once before the site became too populated for me to notice any others. 

Now if I could only remember what D.I.R.T.Y. stood for….

(( Spent some time doing the newest live event quests today, very fun! Aside from monkey poop, of course ))